A round-up of matches from the Super Eights of the World Cup Qualifiers tournament in South Africa
Cricinfo staff11-Apr-2009Super EightsAfghanistan pulled off a massive upset by beating Ireland by 22 runs at Krugersdorp. Ireland did well to keep Afghanistan to 218 after electing to field, but their batting effort was dented by Hamid Hassan’s five wickets and tidy support from the rest of the attack. Hassan – who opened the bowling instead of being first-change, a move made in the last game – struck early by dismissing William Porterfield and later returned to really hurt Ireland; Andrew White (56) and Kevin O’Brien (52) had lifted the side from 73 for 5 to 186 but Hassan dismissed them in successive overs – both set batsmen were bowled. Hassan then polished off the tail are Ireland lost five wickets for just ten runs, bowled out for 196 in 47.3 overs. Hassan, described by Bermuda’s captain Irvine Romaine to Cricinfo this week as possibly the fastest bowler in the tournament, bowled four players in all.Afghanistan’s innings was propped up by Mohammed Shehzad (46), Asghar Stanikzai (47) and Raees Ahmadzai, who hit an unbeaten 50 from 65 balls to take the score to 218 for 7. Hassan ensured it was enough for victory. Afghanistan were totally outplayed by the UAE recently so to beat Ireland, who were unbeaten and heads-and-shoulders above anyone else, and the favourites to win, is fairly significant.Canada recorded their second straight win at Willowmoore Park in Benoni when they eased past Kenya by seven wickets in their first Super Eights match. Henry Osinde set it up with a four-wicket burst to restrict Kenya to a modest 181 before the batsmen eased home thanks to Rizwan Cheema’s early assault.Osinde justified the decision to bowl first by running through the top order. Kenya effectively lost the game in the 11th over when they lost half their side for 51. It was left to Jimmy Kamande to stage a recovery with the lower order after the seventh wicket fell at 105. He added 72 for the eighth wicket with Nehemiah Odhiambo, who remained unbeaten on 34. Kamande scored the only half-century of the match and his 86-ball 61 included eight fours. Cheema set off in a hurry with three consecutive sixes off Peter Ongondo over the on side but fell one short of his half-century. Kenya could manage only two more wickets before Ian Bilcliff and captain Ashish Bagai knocked off the runs by the 35th over.Jan Stander’s unbeaten 80 paved the way and John Blain’s five wickets sealed Scotland’s 26-run win over Netherlands in Johannesburg. Scotland were 59 for 5 – after Edgar Schiferli grabbed four wickets – when Stander walked in. He and Gavin Hamilton (52) added 58 to ease the cracks but again Scotland stumbled, this time from 117 for 5 to 120 for 8. Enter Blain, whose unbeaten 29 gave Stander support and helped the score to 216 for 8. Stander finished on 80 from 92 balls with seven fours and a pair of sixes. After a cool contribution with the bat, Blain took two wickets in two balls to hurt Netherlands. Netherlands recovered somewhat from 87 for 5 thanks to Bas Zuiderent’s 67 from 106 balls but Blain came back into the attack to complete the win. He finished with 5 for 45, Dewald Nel contributed 3 for 34 and Stander was Man of the Match for his super effort.”It’s just amazing to win,” said Stander. “We knew exactly what we needed to do today, we know what we need to do for the rest of the tournament, so it’s just really nice to get that win under the belt.”We also knew we had to field well and I think it’s probably the best we fielded in this tournament and Johnny [John Blain] and Nelly [Dewald Nel] definitely put their hand up and did a tremendous job with the ball. So, it’s just brilliant.”Also read Will Luke’s bulletin of Namibia’s 49-run win over UAE in Pretoria.
Canada 4 3 1 00 6 +1.698 976/184.3 686/191.0Ireland 4 3 1 0 06 +0.572 866/173.4 883/200.0 Kenya 4 2 2 0 0 4+1.067 790/162.2 687/180.5 Netherlands 42 2 0 0 4 +0.034911/192.4 935/199.1 Scotland 4 22 0 0 4 -0.536 819/200.0869/187.4 U.A.E. 4 2 20 0 4 -1.147 835/196.3 876/162.2 Afghanistan 4 1 3 00 2 -0.629 848/200.0 943/193.4Namibia 4 1 3 0 02 -0.962 865/200.0 1031/195.0
Play-offsShortly after losing one-day status, Bermuda gave their supporters something to cheer with a comprehensive eight-wicket win over Oman in Potchefstroom to move to the final of the ninth-place playoff. The target of 255 was dealt with easily by David Hemp, who made an unbeaten 124 and Steven Outerbridge, who fell nine short of his ton. Rodney Trott, the offspinner, was the most effective among the bowlers with 4 for 43. Oman got off to a sound start with a stand of 117 between Hemin Desai (58) and Zeeshan Siddiqui (41) for the second wicket but the middle order failed to string together proper partnerships. They lost their seventh wicket at 175 in the 32nd over but a stand of 58 for the eighth wicket revived them. Sultan Ahmed and Amir Ali hit half-centuries to push the score to 254 but in the end it wasn’t competitive enough. Hemp carried his bat in his 125-ball knock and he shared a match-winning stand of 180 for the second wicket with Outerbridge.Uganda moved to the final of the ninth-place play-offs with a comprehensive 62-run win over Denmark at Senwes Park. Nehal Bibodi set it up with a run-a-ball 104 to push Uganda to an imposing 292 for 6 and the opposition could manage only 230 for 8 in reply. Denmark were on the back-foot after opting to bowl first as they struggled to break through the top order. Bibodi and Joel Olwenyi added an exact 100 for the third wicket and the most explosive stand was that of 64 in seven overs between Bibodi and Frank Nsubuga for the fourth. Denmark’s highest partnership was 99 for the second wicket between Mickey Lund and Carsten Pederson but a middle order collapse brought Uganda right back into the match. Lund top scored with 59. Uganda virtually sealed the game when the score read 149 for 8 and a ninth wicket stand of 81 delayed the inevitable. Uganda will now play Bermuda in the ninth-place play-off final at the same venue on Monday.